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A Bird in the Hand

Episode 6 of 10

A rare gull is spotted during a station spring-clean, causing chaos on the line. Starring Arthur Lowe. From November 1973.

A rare gull is spotted during a station spring-clean, causing chaos on the line.

Starring Arthur Lowe and Ian Lavender.

Jim Eldridge's eponymous series is set in a sleepy railway station. The Hepplewhites have run 'Parsley Sidings' station for generations and the current Station Master, Horace, hopes that his son Bert will continue the line. Mild-mannered Ticket Clerk Bert wants to work anywhere but on the railways. His colleague, Station Announcer Gloria Simpkins, secretly loves him. Porter Percy Valentine is an archetypal wheeler-dealer and the ancient Signalman, Bradshaw, causes havoc and dispenses home-made remedies in equal measure. The 'Parsley Sidings' nemesis is Phineas Perkins, the station master of Potwhistle Halt, one stop down the line.

Horace Hepplewhite …. Arthur Lowe
Valentine/Bradshaw/Editor …. Kenneth Connor
Gloria Simpkins…. Liz Fraser
Bert Hepplewhite …. Ian Lavender
Train Driver …. John Baddeley

Producer: Edward Taylor

First broadcast on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 2 in November 1973.

30 minutes

On radio

Thu 8 May 2025 07:30

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